TuHoHoNai has well and truly arrived and it has been an eventful past 24 hours. Never in my life have i imagined that my first working stint will be as an usher. Images of ushers in my mind are always those of student councilors and just random people, but never ever close to being me. It was quite exciting because it's often during such random experiences that you get to see the world in a different light.

Yesterday going into today, I saw Singapore no longer as an Asian society, but as a truly global and cosmopolitan one. I think that's a clear sign Singapore's evolved over the years and that more than ever, people of different cultures and heritage are slowly becoming one of us, becoming Singaporeans. Everywhere in the streets, if we care to open our ears and concentrate enough, Chinese accents are increasingly common, perfectly accented English no longer a rarity like chancing upon Fiona Xie on the streets. Commonly viewed as despicable rats here to vie for the locals' rice bowls, these people are actually a misunderstood lot. They bring with them an abundance of spontaneity, manners and genuine love for this vibrant city which sadly, many Singaporeans sorely sorely lack.

Yesterday, I saw them in the light of an usher. While Singaporeans repeatedly battered us into submission for blocking their views, for having conflicting instructions, for being slow in responding, these supposed 'rats' were the ones who gave us encouraging smiles, even giving us pats on the backs for directing them to the washroom, seats or whatever. Yes, there are always the black sheeps but I implore Singaporeans to give our foreign friends a chance to fit in our increasingly fractious society. As we move away from the year of the 'rats' (ironically), I hope we, similarly, cast aside this stigma of ours and work together to dispel the gloom that's already hovering just overhead and threatening to choke the life out of us in the coming 365 days or so.

Somber beginning yes, but we should confront problems instead of side-stepping them like so many of us find so convenient to do. Whatever it is.

Anyway, I witnessed awesome fireworks yesterday. Maybe it's due to the inactivity of fireworks in my life the past 3,4 years but it made the display all the more alluring and enchanting. The golden champagne spirals, the glorious explosions of red green and blue, the grandiose of fireworks are a sight to behold. For that split second, it just looks as if the celebration of light will triumph over the vast, never-ending black empty night sky and it looks to envelope everybody under that sky. One can't help but feel too, that everybody is, at that moment, captivated and thoroughly absorbed by the illuminated night sky.

There is a tinge of apprehension and an air of cautiousness about the coming year. But i am sure everybody is sick of encountering negative vibes, so am I.

Have an open heart. By open, I mean being big enough to take any impending blows and accepting it. By open, I mean being flexible enough to take the alternative path even if it brings lesser rewards and being less choosy. By open, I mean being generous enough to offer help to anyone in whatever way you can. We create our destiny and similarly, we will create our own 2009, the way we want to.

4:22 am;

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